The July edition of "Ask Cryptic" Hinted that we might be seeing the Romulans as playable in season 7.

Please, Cryptic, don't do that. I certainly want to see the Romulans eventually, but the Klingons still need a major content boost. You said season 7 was going to be about "story," so why not throw the Klingons a bone? Make some of the missions dual-faction, focusing on the Undine/Iconian storyline, but then make a handful of Klingon-only missions to pick up the Feklhri (and supposedly H'urq) storyline. And if the Fed-only players complain that they are getting jipped, ignore it! Tell them it's about time the Klinks get the larger end of the stick.

I'm not a Klink-only player, in fact, my main toon is Federation. But I think both factions are fun to play, and giving the klinks more than the feds in the next season will not only solve a much-needed content defficiency on the klink side, but will also convince some of the Federation players to step out of their "Fed-only" bubble and explore the ups and downs of both factions.

i would have no problems with romulans being a micro faction...or even only a short (40-50) story line ending with you (a romulan) choosing sides with KDF or Fed at the end of that story arc.

you choose a ship during this story arc...a d'deridex or mogai (escort/sci with universal BOFF's)

story going something like this: after the disappearance of sela (iconians) the romulan empire collapesed and a civil war started...the fed supporting one side and the kdf the other side. You as a veteran captain of the imperial fleet, should investigate the disapearance of sela, only to find the involvement of the tal'shiar and the iconians.
At the end you realise that the romulan government (sela) is corrupted and used by the iconians and you chose to fight against her and the iconians either with KDF or FED, depending on your moral decissions during that story arc.

i can see already a fight against sela inside the romulan senat on rator 3..with her iconian bodyguards, or maybe herself transforming into one.

I think it's important that Cryptic finish the KDF, or at least expand the KDF quite a bit before making Romulans.

If Romulans come out with the same level of content as the KDF, or less, then once the initial excitement of "OMG I can makes a Romulan!!!" is over, the majority of players will stop playing them. So it'll be uneconomic for Cryptic to make much more in the way of content, unique items etc for them. And we'll end up with another faction of unhappy players long term. And if they have a track record of not expanding mini-factions, which they have currently, that effect will be even more pronounced. Because people will know that once the initial content is out, any future releases will be slow. Only hardcore Romulan players will play their Romulan character with any degree of regularity, and most of them will be as unhappy as the hardcore KDF players are now. Doesn't do any favours for the happiness of the player base, imo. And if people are already annoyed over something like lack of content for their faction, then things like lockboxes, fleet modules, non-account wide CStore items etc. will just piss them off even more, and people will become disillusioned with PWE & Cryptic and leave.

Also, I reckon a lot of players will be of the same mind as me: I'll make a Romulan only if I have the free character slot when they come in. If I have to buy a character slot or delete an existing character to make room, then I'm probably not going to bother, because long-term it'll be another half-baked mini faction like the KDF.

Of course if they finished the KDF first, I might have confidence in their desire and ability to finish the Romulans and think differently about it.

However I fully expect Cryptic, being a business, after all, will see more money in doing the Romulans as a mini faction (CStore Warbird, anyone?) than in finishing the KDF. It doesn't make them bad or evil, it just makes them a business.

I personally don't feel the state of the Klingon faction should prevent the game from expanding. New features sell. Romulans will sell. More money may allow a more flexible schedule which could benefit Klingons in particular.

But - if they were to release a similar faction to that of the Federation, then I think it would be a PR disaster, and would ultimately cause more harm than good. A mini-faction akin to the Klingons would be best received in my opinion. Once its done 'right'.

I actually really want the Romulans added as a playable faction sooner rather than later. Nothing against the Klingons, I just like the Romulans better.

However, I also agree that the Klingon side of things needs to be seriously revamped. It just doesn't have the same amount of content as the Federation side, and I personally think the game would be better if you could play as a Klingon from day one and not have to unlock it by playing Federation first. I think we'd have more players on the Klingon side that way.

That being said... please consider the same for Romulans, Cryptic. Not everyone wants to play Federation first. Flesh out the other faction(s) and let people start from the beginning.

Unlike some others I am not an avid supporter of the KDF but many seasoned players I know are moving over to the KDF side for starbase construction after bringing their bases to Tier II or somewhere close.

The reason is the KDF PvE content is much more profitable dil wise and just about everyone agrees that the Sto'vo'kor story arc is something very unique and very entertaining, and KDF ships are also much more interesting than their Fed counterparts.

However the lack of KDF-specific supporting content does kill the enjoyment for some, and the fact that all there is to buy is starships and more starships.

Compared to the 'utopian' ideals of the Federation, many players also find the Klingon warrior ethos very fun to RP because it pretty much goes hand in hand with STO gameplay - basically raid everyone and shoot to kill all the way.

This means that any and all KDF faction content would be much appreciated by not just KDF players but everyone in general, as it gives them more impetus to roll a Klingon and stick with it.

Right now it's just a profitable dil farming venture.

KDF can be much more.

STF Flight Instructor since Early 2012. Newbies are the reason why STO lives and breathes today. Do not discriminate.

It is a good point that, if for whatever reason, Cryptic puts the Romulans in the game soon, their faction should have no more content than the Klingons have right now. Then they could devote one season to improving them both.